Buckner Internship Announcement!!

Last night, on my way home from "date day" with Mom and Dad (we saw Dear John and ate at Outback), I received an email from the Volunteer Director at Buckner International.

It said:

"Congratulations!  This is to confirm that you have been selected to be an “Abandon” Summer  Intern with Buckner International.  You have been assigned to Session 1  (May 27 – June 26, 2010)  in Kenya....."

WHOOP!!!

Needless to say...I'm excited!  God is so good.  I had been doing really well about not worrying about my future...until this week.  Grad school stuff is not going well and I've started to really question what that means and asking for clarity.  God knows what He's doing! I still don't have all the answers I'd like, but this is a good start.  I feel this is confirmation that I am least moving in the direction God wants me.  He had put Kenya and this internship on my heart for a reason...I have a good idea that I will find out why come May. =)

At this time, I still don't have many details about the internship (I still don't know where in Kenya I will be going, etc.) but I should know more in a few days.  I do know the following: I will be living and working at an orphanage.  I am part of a four girl intern team that will be ministering in Kenya.  One of them is an Aggie also!! That will be great for instantly building a connection.  We are encouraged to start visiting with our team to get to know each other before May.

Some facts about Kenya that I got from the CIA - World Factbook:

Population: 39,002,772
Size of country: slightly more than twice the size of Nevada
Median age of the Kenyan people: 18.7 years
Infant mortality rate: 54.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy: 57.86 years
HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate: 6.7% (2003 est.)
     - Country comparison to the world: #10
HIV/AIDS - people living with the disease: 1.2 million (2003 est.)
     - Country comparison to the world: #8
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 150,000 (2003 est.)
     -Country comparison to the world: #4

Info from Buckner's site:
There are more than 2.3 million orphans in Kenya with 1.1 million orphaned due to HIV/AIDS. Nearly a quarter of the population in Kenya lives on less than $1 a day.

Please join me in praying for:

• the Kenyan people
• the children at the orphanage where we will work
• the intern team I will be part of
• our safety and health
• the Buckner staff that works there
• the work that Buckner is doing in the orphanage and in their community
• that hearts would be softened toward the message of the gospel
• that Christ would be glorified through it all.

 -t